The legacy of COVID-19 in dementia community support: ongoing impacts on the running of meeting centres
ISSN: 1366-3666
Article publication date: 11 April 2023
Issue publication date: 8 February 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruption in community support for vulnerable older people and is thought to have exacerbated existing issues within UK adult social care. This study aims to examine the legacy of that disruption on how meeting centres for people affected by dementia have been impacted in continually evolving circumstances.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were conducted at three meeting centre case study sites. Ninety-eight participants, including people living with dementia, family carers, staff, volunteers, trustees and external partners, were asked about the impact and legacy of the pandemic upon meeting centres. A thematic analysis was carried out on the data.
Findings
Ten themes were identified: ability to re-open venues; increased health decline and loss of members due to isolation; closure or halting of linking services and dementia community support; disruption to diagnosis and referrals; increase in outreach, building communities and overall reach; digital access and use of technology (boom and decline); changes to carer involvement and engagement; continued uncertainty and changes to funding, resources and governance; staff and volunteer recruitment issues; and relief at/wish for return to pre-pandemic norms.
Originality/value
This paper offers new insight into a still-developing situation, namely, the legacy effects of the pandemic upon third-sector community support for people affected by dementia and the health and social care services that support it. The reduction in maintenance of pandemic-era technological innovations is a key finding.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank all meeting centre attendees, personnel and partners that participated in this study, as well as our research collaborators at the 3 Nations Working Group on Dementia, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences (Oxford), London School of Economics and Political Science and Worcestershire County Council.
Conflict of interest declaration: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Funding: This paper presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) under its Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) and Research for Social Care Programme (Grant Reference Number NIHR201861). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Citation
Morton, T., Evans, S., Swift, R., Bray, J. and Frost, F. (2024), "The legacy of COVID-19 in dementia community support: ongoing impacts on the running of meeting centres", Working with Older People, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 74-83. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-03-2023-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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